Feed-water regulator.



W. D. HODGSON.

FEED WATER REGULATOR. APPLIOATIONYIILED SEPT. 19, 1913 Patented May 5,1914.

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W. D. HODGSON.

FEED WATER REGULATOR. APPLIOATION PILE D SEPT.19, 1913.

1 Q95 398 Patented May 5, 1914.

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WILLIAM D. HODGSON, 015 DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASS'IGNOR TO ALEXANDER J.MCDONOUGH, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

FEED-WATER REGULATOR.

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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM D. HODGSON, a subject of the King of GreatBritain and Ireland, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne andState of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFeedater Regulators, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to feed water regulators and resides in certainnovel and peculiar constructions, arrangements and combinations of partsas will be more fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the drawings,Figure 1 is an end elevation of a boiler showing myimproved regulator applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan view partlyinsection, of the regulator; Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of theexpansible section of the regulator; Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate certaindetails of construction; and Fig. 6 is a plan view, with certain partsbroken away, illustrating manner of attachment to boiler.

A designates the boiler, B the feed water conduit leading from the pumpor other suitable source of supply to the boiler, and C the valvecontrolling the admission of water to the boiler.

D designates the regulator which is arranged exteriorly of the boilerand comprises an expansible section, herein shown as composed of tubes Eand F formed of suitable expansible material and connected at oppositeends by suitable cross-heads G H. The head G is in communication withthe interior of the boiler at the normal water level, by means or" aconduit I, while a pipe J establishes communication between the head Hand the steam space of the boiler. Operative connection between thevalve G and the regulator is efiected through the medium of a rod Lhaving one end attached to the valve and the other end operativelyconnected to the regulator.

The arrangement of parts hereinbefore described is old in the art, butis open to numerous objections among which are that the expansion of theregulator has not been suflicient to properly open the valve, whilethere has been a tendency for the expansion to produce leaky joints orbreaks in the regulator.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 19, 1913.

Also with the specific construction Patented Mayfi, 1914.

Serial No. 790,769.

of regulator described, the tubes E" and F upon expansion tend to warpor bow outward, thereby preventing a correct actuation of the valvecontrolling the supply conduit. With my improved arrangement of partsnot only are these objections overcome, but furthermore a simplestructure is produced which is exceedingly accurate and eflicient inoperation. Thus in order to insure sufliconduits or tubes E and F.

U is a cross-bar having bearing'portions V rigidly clamped to the tubes.

W is a central bearing in the bar U through which the rod L passes, andX is a second cross-bar also provided with a central bearing Y to permitthe rod L to pass therethrough. The bearing Y is provided with a seat Zfor one end of a spring A which passes through the bearing W and has itsopposite end engaging a fixed collar B upon the rod L. The spring Atends to hold the valve C to its seat and in order to permit the tensionof the spring A to be varied, the crossbar X is made adjustable. Thus,the bearing portion C and the bar K have a slidable engagement with thetubes E and F, and the member X is adjustably connected to the fixedcross-bar U through the medium of bolts D passing through apertures a Z)inthe cross-bars. By shortening the bolts the tension upon the spring isincreased, while by lengthening the members D the cross-bar X ispermitted to move to lessen the tension. The lower end of the rod Lengages a suitable guide E carried by the cross-head H, the outer end ofthe guide E being provided with a suitable packing gland F for the rodL.

In operation of the structure so far de scribed, when the water in theboiler is at the normal level line, the valve 0 is closed and theconduit I, tubes E F and cross-heads G and H filled with water, whilethe pipe J is open to the steam space of the boiler. Upon the loweringof the water level in the boiler below the normal, the end of theconduit communicating with the boiler is uncovered and the water in theregulator correspondingly lowers or discharges into the boiler. Steamthen passes through the conduits I and J into the heads G and H and fromthe latter into the tubes E and F, thereby highly heating the tubes. Themembers E and F when highly heated expand, producing an elongation whichincreases the distance between the cross-heads H and G and causes theconnection T to operate the valve rod L to open the valve C and permitwater to be fed to the boiler through the pipe B. The elongation of thetubes is of course comparatively slight and materially less than themovement which is desired for the valve C. Through the medium of themultiplying lever however, the slight movement of the expansible sectionof the regu later is sufficiently enlarged to produce a proper travel ofthe valve. Upon the water in the boiler reaching the normal level, waterfills the regulator through the conduit I and seals the end of thisconduit that opens into the boiler, thereby preventing steam fromentering the regulator. When the tubes E and F are filled with waterthey are cooled and rapidly contract, allowing the valve to be closed bythe spring A.

As before stated, during the expansion of the tubes E and F there is atendency for these members to bow or warp outwardly. Outward bowing ofthe tubes would of course decrease the lengthening of these members whenthe regulator expands, but with my improved construction the crossbars Uand X form ties intermediate the ends of the tubes E and F and preventbowing thereof. To adjust the connection T in proper relation to thevalve rod and the multiplying lever, this connection is formed of twosections G H secured together by a turnbuckle I. The turnbuckle isprovided with two right-hand differential threads so as to permit a veryaccurate adjustment of the length of the connection T to be had withoutemploying extremely fine pitch threads. If the ordinary turn-bucklearrangement were employed, extremely fine pitch threads would berequired, which would not be practical, but by arranging the threads inthe same direction, a differential adjustment can be made to a very finedegree.

The cross-head H is formed from a single casting, so as to give it therequired strength and also to reduce the number of joints to a minimum.Thus the connection K for the pipe J is formed adjacent the center or abowed section L that is provided at opposite ends with couplings M Nwith which the pipes E F respectively have a threaded engagement.Extending between the outer extremities of the bowed section L are arms0 which carry a section E having an opening a for receiving the upperend of the guide E the latter being secured within the opening a bymeans of a nut Z) engaging the outer end of the guide E which isthreaded. The outer end of the guide E is provided with a threadedsection U which is adapted to engage the casing V of the valve C. I alsofind it desirable to form the head G of a single casting, the preferredconstruction comprising a section 1 having a coupling G centrallythereof for engaging the conduit 1, and having couplings R S at itsopposite ends. In order to permit the head G to be readily removed, theconnection between the members E and F and the couplings R S is madethrough the medium of unions T.

W is a bearing cast integral with the section P and to which the upperend of the rod H is attached.

The construction hereinbefore described forms a simple and durableregulator and one which readily responds to the condition of the boiler.

hat I claim as my invention is 1. The combination with a boiler, of awater supply conduit therefor and a controlling valve for said conduit,of a regulator for said valve comprising a hollow expansible section, aconnection between the steam chamber of the boiler and the interior ofsaid expa-nsible section, a connection between the boiler at the normal.water level and the interior of said section, a rod for actuating saidvalve, a multiplying lever mechanism connected to said rod and asectional rod connecting said multiplying lever mechanism and saidexpansible section, including a turn-buckle connecting the sections ofthe sectional rod, the threads at the opposite ends of the turn-bucklebeing in the same direction and differential pitch.

2. The combination with a boiler, of a water supply conduit therefor anda controlling valve for said conduit, of a regulator for said valvecomprising spaced tubes formed of expansible metal and having theiropposite ends connected by hollow headers, one of said headers being incommunication with the steam chamber oi the boiler and the other headercommunicating with the boiler at the normal water level thereof, a rodfor actuating said valve, a multiplying lever mechanism attached to saidrod, a connection having one end secured to said multiplying levermechanism and having the opposite end attached to one of said headers,an adjustable cross-bar engaging said tubes and provided with a bearingthrough which the valve rod extends, a bearing on the rod, a springhaving one end engaging the last-mentioned bearing and having theopposite end engaging said cross-bar.

3. The combination with a boiler, of a water supply conduit therefor anda conplying lever mechanism and having the opposite end attached to oneof said headers, a cross-bar slidably engaging said tubes and providedwith a bearing through which said rod extends, a second cross-barfixedly connected to the tubes, adjustable connections between saidcross-bars, a spring engaging the first-mentioned cross-head and actingto close the valve, and a bearing on the second cross-head through whichsaid spring extends.

4. The combination with a boiler, of a water supply conduit therefor anda controlling valve for said conduit, of a regulator for said valvecomprising spaced tubes formed of expansible metal and having theiropposite ends connected by hollow headers, one of said headers being incommunication with the steam chamber of the boiler and the other headercommunicating with the boiler at the normal Water level thereof, a rodfor actuating said valve, a multiplying lever mechanism attached to saidrod, and a connection having one end secured to said multiplying levermechanism and having the opposite end attached to one of said headers, across-bar slidably engaging said tubes, a second cross-bar spaced fromthe first mentioned cross-bar and fixedly attached to the tubes,adjustable connections between said cross-bars, and a spring acting tonormally close said valve and having one end abutting against said firstmentioned crossbar.

5. The combination with a boiler, of a water supply conduit therefor anda controlling valve for said conduit, of a regulator for said valvecomprising spaced tubes formed of expansible metal and having theiropposite ends connected by hollow headers, one of said headers being incommunication with the steam chamber of the boilerand the other headercommunicating with the boiler at the normal water level thereof, a rodfor actuating said valve arranged intermediate said tubes, a guide forsaid rod carried by one of said headers, a multiplying lever mechanismattached to the valve rod, a connection intermediate the tubes havingone end secured to the multiplying lever mechanism and having theopposite end attached to the other of said headers, a cross-bar slidablyengaging the tube and having a bearing portion intermediate the headersthrough which said rod extends, a collar on the rod, a spring having oneend engaging said collar and having the opposite end engaging,

said cross-bar, and means for adjusting said cross-bar to vary thetension of said spring. 6. The combination with a boiler, of a watersupply conduit therefor and a controlling valve for said conduit, of aregulator for said valve comprising spaced tubes formed of expansiblemetal and having their opposite ends connected by hollow headers, one ofsaid headers being in communication with the steam chamber of the boilerand the other header communicating with the boiler at the normal waterlevel thereof, a rod for actuating said valve, one of the headerscomprising an integral casting having couplings for respectivelyengaging the spaced tubes, a hollow section connecting said couplingsand provided with a coupling intermediate the ends thereof, across-connection between said couplings for engaging the tubes, and aguide for the valve rod carried by said cross-connection.

7. The combination with a boiler, of a water supply conduit therefor anda controlling valve for said conduit, of a regulator for said valvecomprising spaced tubes formed of expansible metal and having theiropposite ends connected by hollow headers, one of said headers being incommunication with the steam chamber of the boiler and the other headercommunicating with the boiler at the normal water level thereof, a rodfor actuating said valve, a multiplying lever mechanism comprising alink having one end pivotally connected to said rod, brackets secured tosaid tubes, arms pivotally connected to and projecting laterally fromsaid brackets, one of said arms being pivotally connected to the otherend of said link and a second link having one end pivotally connected tosaid arm intermediate the ends of the latter and having the opposite endpivotally connected to the end of the other arm, and a connectionattached at one end to one of said headers and'having the opposite endpivotally connected to the last-mentioned arm intermediate the ends ofthe latter.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM D. HODGSON.

Witnesses:

WM. J. BELKNAP, ALEXANDER J. MODONOUGH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' "Washington, D. C.

